Praetorium

Commander’s house

The Praetorium was the personal residence of the fort commander. It was usually found next to the Principia. He lived here with his wife, family and servants.

At the Lunt, archaeologists have identified a large building to the south of the principia (in the south-east corner of the fort) as the Praetorium. The building would have included the commanders’ offices, living accommodation for him and his family and rooms for all his personal staff.

The building is unusually large for a fort of this size indicating that the commander was an important man. Archaeologists also found fragments of window glass imported from Italy showing that this house was for a high status individual.

The officer’s house was not on this site for the entirety of the fort’s existence. It was located to the west of the Principia until AD 64 when it was moved to the south east corner of the fort and replaced by a granary.

To the west of this complex, across the via praetorium, there are a set of barrack blocks which may have housed the commander’s personal escort.